Student: ______School: ______
Teacher: ______Grade: ______
Date: ______
Dear ______,
We are writing today to formally inform the district of our decision to refuse to allow our child ______, to participate in:
______the 2017 New York State grade 3-8 ELA assessment
______the 2017 New York State grade 3-8 math assessment
______any stand alone New York State field testing in the 2016/17 school year (grades 3-12)
______any local/benchmark assessment used in the New York State teacher evaluation system administered in the fall, winter, and spring (may include STAR, AIMSweb, I-Ready, Achieve3000, MAP/NWEA, SLO's) in the 2016/17 school year (grades k-12) (excluding spring 2017 middle school local assessments being used as a final grade)*
______the 2017 grade 4 New York State science assessment
______the 2017 grade 8 New York State science assessment
______any “formal” practice test (timed or staged to imitate the actual testing day) oralternative CC assessments given only to test refusal students on the day of testing.
Our refusal should in no way reflect on the teachers, administration, or school board. This was not an easy decision for us, but we feel that we have no other choice. We simply see these tests as harmful, expensive, and a waste of time and valuable resources.
We refuse to allow any data to be used for purposes other than the individual teacher’s own formative or cumulative assessment. We are opposed to assessments whose data is used to determine school ranking, teacher effectiveness, or any other purpose other than for the individual classroom teacher’s own use to improve his or her instruction.
We believe in and trust our highly qualified and dedicated teachers and administrators. We believe in the high quality of teaching and learning that occur in our child’s school. We hope our efforts will be understood in the context in which they are intended: to support the quality of instruction promoted by the school, and to advocate for what is best for all children. Our schools will not suffer when these tests are finally gone, they will flourish.
We do apologize in advance for the inconvenience or scrutiny that this decision may cause the administration, the school, and staff.
Sincerely,
*an option for local assessments that parents and teachers agree are diagnostically useful, yet used for APPR purposes, could be to participate in the assessment while withholding the student's score from the overall evaluation score.